A forearm injury to Boston Celtics guard Malcolm Brogdon has caused the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year to not look like the same player recently.
Green Teamers surely could tell the difference during the Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat. Brogdon went from leading Boston's second unit with his playmaking and scoring to missing layups and airballing the same 3-pointers he hit in the regular season.
It became easier to understand why Wednesday night.
Brogdon suffered a partial tear in the tendon from his right elbow to forearm in Game 1, according to a report from The Athletic's Jared Weiss. Brogdon already was dealing with golfer's elbow soreness, according to Weiss, but the injury became worse in the first quarter of Game 1 when he tried to box out Heat forward Kevin Love. An MRI after that game revealed the extent of the ailment, which caused Brogdon to be added to Boston's injury report ahead of Game 2. He played in that contest and has not been on the injury report since.
It's certainly an unfortunate time for Brogdon's injury to occur. He averaged 14.8 points per game on 44.6% from the floor and 43.5% from long range during Boston's first two playoff series against the Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers. Brogdon scored 19 points on 50% from the floor in Game 1 against the Heat, too. In Games 2, 3 and 4, however, Brogdon averaged five points on 25% from the field and 10% from long range. He shot 1-for-11 from the field in the last two games and was a minus-24 in those contests. Brogdon was a liability in his 20 minutes per game in the last three contests, a noticeable decline in usage after he played more than 28 minutes in Boston's first 14 playoff contests.
While Weiss claimed Brogdon plans to continue to play, Celtics first-year head coach Joe Mazzulla should strongly consider spreading out his minutes.
Increased minutes for Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Marcus Smart, Robert Williams and Al Horford surely would help account for that, but Grant Williams should be at the top of the list among reserves.
Grant Williams has proven his ability against this Heat team. After excelling against Miami in last year's conference finals, Williams averaged 11.7 points over the last three contests, playing just shy of 28 minutes in those games. He's shot 63.6% from long range. It’s a small sample size, but it's clear he's had a positive impact with his ability to be physical on defense and shoot from outside. Williams was a plus-15 in 29 minutes in Boston's Game 4 win in Miami, not long after Mazzulla kept him on the bench in the series-opening loss. NBA analysts Kendrick Perkins and Brian Scalabrine were calling for more Grant Williams even before Brogdon's injury development. It now seems like a no-brainer.
Others might make an argument for Payton Pritchard or even Sam Hauser.
Pritchard is more of a guard-for-guard replacement for Brogdon, unlike Williams. He plays with energy, which the Celtics have struggled to maintain, and he's more than capable of knocking down jumpers from long-range. Pritchard might be able to provide a short-term spark, especially with Heat guard Gabe Vincent ruled out for Game 5. The drawback of the 6-foot-1, 185-pound guard, however, is his size and physicality on the defensive end. He's a pest, but Heat star Jimmy Butler could relish the opportunity to target Pritchard in Boston's switch-everything defense. Butler did so earlier in the series.
Hauser hasn't seen the floor much this postseason, but his shooting prowess keeps him in the conversation. The series has been heavily impacted by shot-making, after all. Hauser shot nearly 42% from long range in 80 games this season. He would help Boston spread the floor and he's not a liability on the defensive end. But the fact he's come off the bench behind Williams and Pritchard during much of the season probably indicates he's not Boston's best option in a do-or-die contest.
Mazzulla has difficult decisions to make entering a win-or-go-home Game 5 at TD Garden on Thursday night. Tip off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET.
